Yankee Chang Movies
Already laid up with a sprained ankle, Magnum (Tom Selleck) braces himself for more pain when call girl Leslie Emory (Candy Clark), who'd given him plenty of trouble during a previous assignment, sashays back into his life. Insisting that she's given up her former profession and gone straight, Leslie asks Magnum to locate her missing sister Patty (Cindy Fisher), who is still a "working girl." Before long, Magnum finds out that his injured ankle is the least of his problems! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Having long carried a torch for the beautiful Vivian Brock Jones--aka Lady Wilkerson, the Duchess of Witt--Higgins (John Hillerman) gallantly offers to protect the lady from thieves who covet her priceless jewels. Rather forgetting himself, Higgins composes a love letter to the lady, which she thinks has been sent by HER dream man Magnum (Tom Selleck). This comedy of errors turns deadly serious thanks to a kidnapping scheme which inconvenently occurs just as Magnum is preparing for Rick's annual surf-ski race. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Magnum has figured out that the reason he has been summoned to testify in Washington about his old unit in Vietnam is to prevent him from asking any more questions about his lost love Michelle (Marta DuBois), whom he had married during the war--and who was not killed in an explosion as he has been led to believe. It turns out that Michelle is now the wife of a high-ranking Vietnamese general (Soon-Tek Oh), who is presently in Washington negotiating the release of some American POWs. What Magnum doesn't find out until it is nearly too late is that Michelle's life is in grave danger...courtesy of someone known as "The Tiger" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "TV Movie"), Magnum (Tom Selleck) is convinced that he has seen Michelle (Marta DuBois), the woman whom he married in Vietnam during the war--and who had been reported killed in an explosion. His efforts to find out if Michelle is indeed still alive are stonewalled by the US Government, whose representatives--including his frequent associate Mac (Jeff MacKay)--are clearly hiding something. In the midst of this intrigue, Magnum is called back to active duty (with a promotion) and hauled before a military hearing to testify about his old unit in 'Nam...but what is REALLY going on here? Lance LeGault makes his first appearance as Magnum's perennial nemesis Col. Buck Greene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Beautiful antiques dealer Mai Ling (Susie Elene) hires Magnum (Tom Selleck) to safeguard the "Soul of Soong", a priceless Chinese vase. This places our hero directly in the line of fire of relentless professional assassin Choi (George Cheung), to say nothing of a deadly, not-so-secret Tong gang. And is the vase that Magnum is so diligently guarding the genuine article, or a cheap replica? "China Doll" won the 1981 Edgar Allan Poe Award for "best single television episode." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the first of three episodes filmed in Hawaii, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) and Tony (Larry Hagman) cross the paths of a clever con artist named Charlie (Milton Berle). Hoping to get his mitts on the valuable King Tut scarab pin in Jeannie's possession, Charlie "trades" the bauble for Diamondhead Beach, with the help of a partner in crime named Vanderhaven (Fred Clark). Unfortunately for the crooks, Jeannie gets even by conjuring up a deucedly clever "sting" operation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Fabian, Tab Hunter, and Peter Brown star as three surfers--Jody, Steamer and Chase--who make a pilgrimage from California to the north shore of Oahu for a vacation. Surfers from all over gather here every winter to compete with each other for the title of "the last ride" champion. While surfing the gigantic waves of the Pacific, the three young men each find romance with attractive young ladies (Shelley Fabares, Susan Hart, and Barbara Eden). Ride the Wild Surf features extensive surf footage of the Hawaiian Islands by cinematographer Joseph Biroc. Biroc was credited for a total of five feature productions in 1964. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabian, Shelley Fabares, (more)
Charlton Heston, portraying swaggering bigot land-baron Richard "King" Howland on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, does a spit take when his sister Sloan (Yvette Mimieux) announces that she plans to marry Paul Kahana, a 100% native Hawaiian (played by 100% native Philadelphian James Darren). But Howland, in the meantime, is having a torrid affair with Mei Chen (France Nuyen). During Sloan and Paul's engagement party, Mei Chen's brother comes at Howland with a knife, but Paul intercedes and is killed. Sloan, bitter at Howland for Paul's death, runs off to Honolulu, where she is taken in by Paul's brother Dean (George Chakiris) and his family. Meanwhile, Mei Chen gives birth to Howland's child but dies during childbirth. Howland, ever the rabid racist, refuses to accept the child and Sloan takes it upon herself to care for it. After an angry fight with Sloan and Dean, Howland is confronted with a personal dilemma -- whether to continue on with his closed-minded ways or to welcome his newborn son into his family. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, (more)
The actors do the best they can with this undistinguished wartime melodrama about a group of women caught in New Guinea just when the Japanese are taking over Indonesia and its contiguous islands in 1942. The women range from an ornithologist, to a nurse, to a thief, and a waitress, all captured and put into a Japanese prison camp. But the women manage to escape, though not all survive, and later on they encounter a double-dealing plantation owner (Cesar Romero) who unknown to them, is collaborating with the Japanese and plans on sending them back to their captors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Owens, Denise Darcel, (more)
This second film in the "Gidget" series stars Deborah Walley as Francie Lawrence, better known as Gidget. After being disappointed in love by surfin' dude Moondoggie (James Darren), Gidge joins her parents (Carl Reiner, Jeff Donnell) on a Hawaiian vacation. Complications ensue when Moondoggie likewise arrives in the islands, only to find Gidget "that way" about local beach stud Eddie Horner (Michael Callan). In general, Gidget Goes Hawaiian isn't up to the standards of the original Gidget, though there are a few bright moments, including a satiric dream sequence. Once more, the film proved successful at the box office, spawning even more sequels and no fewer than two weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Darren, Michael Callan, (more)










